Solace
by Stacymc2012
Summary: Regina visits Archie after The Miller's Daughter.


**This should've been up last week, buuuut it wasn't... LOL! I hope you enjoy, just a small fic that was bugging me, I don't know if it is any good... **

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Regina's feet just led her. They always seemed to do that when she was upset. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to hurt someone, Snow, kill everyone in this forsaken town. She wanted to avenger her mother's death. She wanted to do away with this pain. All she's ever really known. She wanted to rip her own heart away so that she wouldn't feel a damned thing; that burning sensation in the pit of said beating muscle. Pain. All she ever seemed to feel. She should have been used to it by now, but it only seemed to intensify and…

A sob escaped her red lips as she walked. Her legs wobbled slightly from the force of her cry, but they continued pushing her forward. Muscle memory led her to that familiar apartment building across the street from Granny's Diner. The recent orphan barely made it up the stairs and before she knew it, she was knocking on his door. She hadn't seen him since the day they argued; since he was "killed". Now she was broken again and she _needed_ someone who truly gave a damn about her to just…

But wait. How could she be so sure that he would even want anything to do with her given everything that had happened; how she'd treated him and what her mother had done to him? Her heart snapped yet again at the thought of that. To put it rather bluntly, Archie was the _last_ person she had. Suddenly though, she wished she could take back that knock to his door or at least hope it'd fallen on deaf ears. However, she could hear Pongo on the other side, barking his head off and scratching at the wooden door. This brought the faintest of smiles upon her pale, tearstained face.

"Regina?" Archie's confused voice came from behind her, rather than in front. Regina jumped slightly not expecting him to be behind her.

She quickly wiped her face before turning around to look at him. "Doctor Hopper, hi," she whispered, afraid to speak loudly or else she would cry again. That was all she wanted to do right now; curl up and cry.

"Regina, what happened? What's wrong?" he asked her, carefully. He could read her as if she were transparent, which to him, she really was.

The brunette couldn't hold back the tears, sob or the words that came out of her mouth, "I need you." She almost sounded like a frightened child. Archie was seeing her at the most raw, vulnerable state. A state very few, if anyone, had ever seen her in.

His heart beat quickly and he swallowed, "Okay…" He quickly unlocked his door and put down the bag of groceries on his kitchen table.

He noticed she was still standing at his doorway, her face buried in her hands while her shoulders shook from silent weeps. So after removing his coat, he set it aside quickly and watched as Pongo was about to go attack Regina happily, his tail wagging at full force. Archie looked at the dog, "No. Stay." He commanded firmly and Pongo pouted before lying back down in his bed. Well that wasn't fair.

Archie approached Regina carefully and gently removed her hands from her face. He knew he needed to be as careful and loving as possible. She was hurt so she could easily lash out at him unintentionally. "Hey, come with me," he took the liberty to wrap an arm around her shoulders, closing the door behind them with his foot.

She allowed to be led to the couch, his arms were around her and they were meeting in her front, holding her hands away from her face while embracing her all at once. She wanted so badly to lean into his touch and allow him to hold her, but she was being naturally resistant. It was in her nature. It was her defense mechanism. Regina hiccupped as her chest heaved up and down from her cries. Archie sat her down and then sat in front of her on the coffee table so that he could face her, look into her eyes.

"Regina," he lifted her chin with such a gentle touch that it was almost as if he wasn't even there, "Can you tell me what happened? Let's try to sort this out, hmm?" He gave her a small smile.

"My mother's dead," she whispered, the words causing her to break down again.

Archie looked surprise. How did someone as powerful as Cora just up and die? "H-How?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Snow killed her." She said this in a firm tone, her chocolate brown eyes turning darker and her demeanor changing to one that resembled her past life pretty well.

He swallowed hard. He shouldn't have asked. "Tell me what happened." He was just confused.

Regina took a breath trying to compose herself. She slowly began to tell him what had happened, keeping her self-possession pretty well, until… "…She had her heart back and her smile… Archie, she was seeing me. She… She was, actually loving me…" She let out a small cry, the tears falling quickly. It'd been the first time Cora had ever _truly_ smiled at her daughter and showed in, any way, that she loved her. "Sh-She said I would've been enough…"

She retracted her hands from his to cover her face again as she curled into herself slightly and continued crying. Archie couldn't believe everything that had happened while he and Pongo stayed home and played chess. He had to commend Regina though that she didn't just murder Snow on the spot like she might have been tempted to do before. He was here. That was enough for him. He knew that he hadn't broken their trust like he thought he had. Archie's heart snapped again at the sound of her sobbing in front of him. He knew that he couldn't do _anything_ to take her pain away, nothing he said or did would completely close that wound; that's what made it worse.

Getting up from the coffee table, Archie sat down beside her again and pulled her in, holding her close again. She was tense and resistant though, even as she cried her eyes out. Carefully, he took her hands away from her face and whispered, "It's alright, Regina. I've got you, everything will be okay soon… It's okay…" His tone was soft and kind, so much more than what Regina felt she deserved.

Slowly, she relaxed into his touch and laid her hair against his chest. He reached out and took a few tissues, going as far as wiping her tears away. And then, he just held her closely, tightly and rocked her. He didn't shush her; he didn't whisper anything else to her. He did, however, take the liberty of kissing her hair a few times.

Eventually, her cries died out and turned into low sniffles. When he looked down at her carefully, he noticed that she had fallen asleep. He couldn't help a soft smile on his face at the sight of her soft, serene face. Archie tenderly lifted her legs up onto the couch and fixed her body a bit so that she was more comfortable against him and left her there. Who knew when was the last time she had slept? So, with her securely in his arms, and Pongo acting as their security alarms, Archie closed his eyes as well and fell asleep.


End file.
